These men are like demi-gods to a patzer like me. Entering the antechamber I almost bumped into Kramnik and then stood close to Anand, the world champion, as he gave an interview having drawn with Kramnik. I was slackjawed as I clicked away.

Carlsen won despite a poor start. Garry Kasparov was there, the strongest player of all time (tho Fischer was sui generis). But best of all Kasparov signed his book on Fischer for me with a dedication to 2 of